No. 5 Abilene Christian Knocks Off Top Seed Central Arkansas
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BEAUMONT, Texas – In a matchup of the league’s top offense and defense, No. 5 Abilene Christian continued to ride its defense to a 1-0 upset of top-seed Central Arkansas on Friday evening at the Lamar Soccer Complex to advance to the program’s first-ever Southland Conference Championship Match.
The Wildcats, who have surrendered just five goals to conference opponents in 2018, secured their 13
th shutout, which ties the league’s single-season record.
Quality chances were few and far between in the first 22 minutes before Wildcat senior Sophie Standifer forced UCA goalkeeper Lauren Mercuri to make a pair of jumping punch saves in a 40-second span.
ACU broke up the tie with just under 15 minutes to play as Brittany Harris issued a textbook cross to Shay Johnson, who finished in the lower right corner for her second goal of the tournament.
The Wildcats (14-5-1) await the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between host Lamar and Stephen F. Austin. Sunday’s championship match can be seen on ESPN+, available via ESPN apps and ESPNPlus.com. David Saltzman and former SFA student-athlete Laura Sadler on the call.